Evaluating the Influence of Social Engagement on Cognitive Impairment and Mobility Outcomes Within the Boston RISE Cohort Study.
Hannah K Steere, Lien Quach, Laura Grande and 1 others
PMID 31318749WHAT IT FOUND
In older adults at risk for mobility decline, mild cognitive impairment was linked to worse mobility and lower social engagement.
Higher social engagement was linked to better mobility and was associated with the cognitive impairment-mobility link, but this cannot prove causation.
Key findings
01Of 430 older adults at risk for mobility decline, 42% had mild cognitive impairment.
02Participants with mild cognitive impairment had lower mobility scores and lower social engagement scores than participants without mild cognitive impairment.
03Social engagement was linked to both mobility outcomes and appeared to account for part of the link between mild cognitive impairment and mobility.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The analysis was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that mild cognitive impairment causes lower social engagement, that social engagement causes better mobility, or that changing social engagement would change mobility. Social engagement was self-reported, and recall bias may be greater in participants with mild cognitive impairment. The sample was not population based and came from Boston-area primary care practices, so results may not apply to older adults in other regions or settings. Participants with moderate to severe cognitive impairment or severe mobility-related disability were excluded, so findings may not apply to more impaired or disabled patients. The study did not have enough statistical power to test whether results differed by gender or education. The mediation analysis was based on statistical models from baseline data, not a prospective or experimental test of social engagement.
Declared interests
The article is tagged as supported by NIH extramural research funding. The supplied text does not state additional conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that increasing social engagement will improve mobility or reduce the impact of mild cognitive impairment on mobility. The study was cross-sectional, did not assign or change social engagement, and only reported associations and model-based mediation.